


warrior poet

by rories



Category: The Blacklist (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2019-01-15 22:53:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12330462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rories/pseuds/rories
Summary: one shots written from tumblr prompts.  lizzington and keenler so far.  all chapters will be labelled.





	1. lizzington + just waking up cuddle

**Author's Note:**

> lizzington + cuddling

red consistently wakes up before lizzy, long before any alarms go off. his routine is the same every morning. wake up, check his phone for any new business, check the news, and then finally get up. by the time he’s done in the shower and on his way to making coffee, lizzy is up and staring at him bleary eyed as he dresses. this is the best part of his day, next to when he finally falls asleep next to her, face to face and feet tangled up together. but this early morning moment, he loves this. 

the sun shines through the window across her bare back, through sheer curtains that she made him put up on a sunday afternoon. the sheets, a pale blue that matches the slightly nautical theme of their bedroom, are pushed low to her hips and red can’t help but admire the length of her spine, the curve that starts below the sheet, the smattering of freckles across her shoulders. red has never been more in love with her than he is on mornings like this. 

liz wakes slowly, making sleepy little noises that red hears from the bathroom. he wipes his face with a towel and pads out on bare feet, towel wrapped low around his waist. he smiles as he watches her stretch, her arms reaching up under the pillows and he huffs a laugh when she rubs her face into the pillow and moans. he works his tongue around his mouth at the noises she makes, but his smile is bright when she finally turns and catches him with bleary eyes. 

neither of them say anything, just stare at each other for a moment before lizzy let’s a small smile crawl across her face. this is part of their routine as well, this slow, lazy morning moment before the hustle and bustle of taking down bad guys. 

this is how they communicate, no words, just a bright smile and him crawling back into bed, towel dropping as he wraps his arms around her waist. 

it’s the pads of his fingers pressing softly into her sides, the huff of a laugh against the side of his head, his nose against her collarbone, the clench of her hands against his shoulders. it’s the whispered admirations against the skin of her belly and the quiet responses shared in the sunlight. 

this is the best part of their days, when red is pressed up against her and she’s happy and content, the way he always promised she would be. she wraps her arms more tightly around him, fingers scratching at the short hair on the back of his neck and smiles.


	2. lizzington + teacher au

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> one shots written from tumblr prompts. lizzington and keenler so far. all chapters will be labelled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lizzington + teacher/college au

“We really…we really shouldn’t be doing this,” Red whispers, hushed and muffled against Liz’s mouth. All he gets in return is a short hum and a tightening of her fingers on the back of his head. His entire body shivers and for a moment he forgets what he was trying to say. When their kiss breaks apart for a moment, he takes a second to take a deep breath in and pulls away. He doesn’t get very far before she’s trying to tug him back, but he stands his ground. “Miss Keen, really,” he starts again, moving his hands from where they’d been resting on her hips to rest on the desk next to her. “Miss Keen, please,” he tries again, moving his mouth out of the line of fire. It doesn’t stop Liz though, she just moves on to pressing kisses to his jawline and then his neck. He shivers again and feels his body melt before he regains his senses and steps back. 

“Lizzy!” he finally says, clearer now that he’s put some distance between them. His chest is heaving and his head is bowed, staring at her knees that had been pressed tight to his hips, but are now hanging limply from his desk. He can see a half graded report underneath her and it reminds him of the beginning of this scenario.

When he’d been sitting at his desk, grading reports for his upper level language course, and counting down the hours until he could successfully sneak out, and she had barged in. To be fair, she had knocked, but he hadn’t even had time to answer before she had opened the door, slipped in, and closed it behind her. He hadn’t been shocked to see her, has seen her at this same time almost every day for the last six months, so he’d just leaned back and smirked at her, throwing his pen on to the desk. “Miss Keen,” he’d said in greeting, letting his chair bounce a bit on it’s way back. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

Liz hadn’t said anything, just reached back and flipped the lock on the door behind her before stalking towards him, a predatory gleam in her eye. It hadn’t taken long after that for Red to find himself in the position they are now, him between her widespread legs and trying to catch his breath even as she’s trying to pull him back to her. 

“Lizzy,” he says, softer this time and she answers him by loosening the grip she has on the back of his head, stroking instead of scraping. When he looks up, she’s grinning at him, eyes still gleaming, this time with affection. “I have a class in,” he pauses for a moment to check his watch, “thirty minutes.” He could have sworn they had less time. 

“Plenty of time,” Liz says before hooking her ankles around his waist and applying gentle pressure to pull him in. Red wants to pull away again, wants to argue, but at some point in time the first four buttons of her blouse had been undone and the peek of blue lace is all too alluring. 

He let’s himself be drawn into her embrace once more and moves his hands from the desk to her waist, sliding under her shirt to her warm skin beneath. Her ankles lock at his back and he presses himself against her, smirking when she stutters out a breath when he rocks into her. “Plenty of time,” he echoes before slanting his mouth over hers once more. 

—–

A half hour later, Red walks into class a limp in his gait and a flush stained high on his cheeks. If any of the students notice, he doesn’t particularly care all that much. He’s scheduled to give a pop quiz today, so he takes a moment for his class to settle before opening his briefcase. This is the part in his routine where he usually pulls out his glasses, but when he pulls out the quiz papers, he can’t find them anywhere. He spends several minutes looking through his briefcase and patting his pockets while his teacher’s assistant passes out the quiz. 

He’s getting frustrated at his lack of progress when there’s a quick knock on the classroom door. He looks up quickly and darts to the door when he sees who it is. “Miss Keen,” he says softly when he opens the door. 

“Professor Reddington,” Liz replies, peeking into the classroom. Red looks over his shoulder to see the class watching the two of them and quickly moves to block their view of her. 

“Miss Keen, how can I help you?” he whispers just shy of harshly. 

“You forgot these,” she says, holding out the glasses he had been searching for. “You left them on your desk.” She’s not doing anything to lower her voice and he can feel the heat burning the tips of his ears. He grabs the glasses from her hurriedly and starts to turn away before just as quickly turning back. 

“Thank you, Miss Keen,” he says in a low voice. “I appreciate you returning these to me.” Red can’t take his eyes off of her and he can feel a slow smile creep across his face, matching the one already on hers. 

“You’re welcome,” she replies and now her voice is low and the feeling he’d had earlier, with her wrapped around him in his office, is back. 

“I’ll see you later.” He says it so confidently that now Liz is blushing. She nods and turns on her toes, knowing that his gaze has travelled lower. A hurried “Miss Keen!” from behind her makes her turn back quickly. He stares at her again, a steady look that stokes the fire inside of her as his gaze travels up and down her body. 

Red smirks again, predatory this time, and brings a hand up to motion to his shirt. “You might want to rethink your wardrobe,” he says, glibly. She looks down quickly to find the buttons on her blouse are off by one. The blush on her cheeks gets deeper, spreads down her neck as she quickly tries to cover the offending shirt. 

Red’s laugh makes up for the embarrassment she feels and she just shakes her head in fond amusement. “I’ll see you later, Professor Reddington.”


	3. lizzington + this is your fault - sickfick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> one shots written from tumblr prompts. lizzington and keenler so far. all chapters will be labelled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lizzington + "this is your fault" + sickfic

It starts with a headache, low and pulsing at the front of her head. She tries to ignore it for awhile, pops a couple of pain pills and listens to Reddington talk about their next Blacklister. His voice is still a little scratchy and low from last week, when he’d been laid up with the flu. They’d taken a break from crime fighting and Liz had done her best to nurse him back to health. He’d been clingy, holding her hand and resting his head on her lap and pressing his face into her stomach whenever she finally got him to settle in a horizontal position. She would have found it annoying if she hadn’t already found it so endearing. 

But now she regrets it because as Red keeps talking, the headache gets worse. She stifles a few coughs as he takes charge of the investigation, telling Aram what to search for and requesting a tactical team from Cooper. All the while, Liz just watches him and she can feel the flush start creeping across her face, but she’s not sure if it’s from the light fever she’s sure is starting or from the way Red always makes her feel when he’s taking over the Task Force.

She’s fine for awhile, able to do most of her job, helps Ressler track down known associates of the arms dealer they’re trying to find. She takes pain pills for her headache and drinks tea for her throat that’s starting to get scratchy and tries to focus when Reddington talks.

Liz makes it a few days, but eventually her body gives in and she finds herself unable and unwilling to get out of bed one day. Her body is trembling from her chills, but she can feel the sweat pooling under her back. She feels gross and terrible but she can’t bring herself to unwrap from the blankets she’s wrapped around her body. She doesn’t even bother trying to fumble for her phone to call in; they’d wrapped up the case the day before so she’s not really expected back at the site.

She does, however, make sure to have her service weapon within reach. Which comes in handy when she’s woken up by the sound of heavy footsteps coming through her front door. Her vision is blurry but her hand is steady as she points the pistol at her bedroom door, finger resting to the side of the trigger like Sam taught her all those years ago.

Liz breathes a sigh of relief, but doesn’t lower her arm when he steps through her door. He stops in the threshold, looking at her over the rims of his amber sunglasses, fingers the brim of his fedora in his hands and says, “Oh, Lizzy.” She finds herself a little annoyed instantly, but she’s too tired to voice it. Her hand starts to shake where she’s still holding it up, so she thumbs on the safety and lets her arm fall back to the bed.

“You look terrible,” Red says, and she instantly regrets lowering her weapon. She groans in response and sticks her arm back under the cover, closing her eyes to the late afternoon sun. She hears him move closer to the bed and feels him move her pistol to the bedside table before settling at her side.

He doesn’t say anything for a long moment, but she can feel him watching her. Finally, after what feels like forever, she cracks one eye open and stares at him. The space between his brows is furrowed and he’s chewing the inside of his cheek like he does. She heaves a heavy sigh and grunts out a sharp “What?!” with what little energy she has. It makes her throat hurt and she wishes she could push him off the bed.

“You look terrible,” he says again, but there is something in his voice this time that sounds almost like guilt. He runs a hand over her forehead and it feels like a cool glass of water against her skin. She wants him to keep doing it forever, but he moves it soon enough. She tries following it for a moment, but her head starts to throb and embarrassment hits her.

“Jackass,” she huffs out, cracking her eyes open again to glare at him before letting them drift close once more. “This is your fault, you know?” It comes out scratchy and low and her throat is on fire when she finished, but now she feels vindicated. If she hadn’t been so worried about him when he was sick, if he hadn’t been so clingy, she wouldn’t feel like Death.

She feels more than hears him get up again and she listens as he makes his way through her bedroom to the bathroom. She hears the water running and lets the sounds of domesticity lull her into relaxation. It’s why she startles a little when he sits back at her side and runs a cool cloth against her forehead. Her body breaks out into instant goosebumps, but it feels amazing against her clammy skin.

Liz should thank him, should show her gratitude because he’s obviously here to help her get better. Instead, she groans lightly and settles further in bed. She cracks an eye open and glares at him, waits for him to catch her eye before she says anything. “Your fault,” she mutters and lets her eyes close, already falling into a doze.

The last thing she hears before falling asleep is Red’s soft and amused, “Yes, dear.”


	4. lizzington + camping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> one shots written from tumblr prompts. lizzington and keenler so far. all chapters will be labelled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I wish you would write a fic where Red and Liz go camping and one of them HATE it"
> 
> your wish is my command

“Lizzy, look at how beautiful everything is!” Red’s voice is loud and excited, though it’s getting quieter the farther away he gets. He’s walking quickly up the hiking trail, helped along by a long, strong stick he’d found at the beginning of their hike. “The trees are so green and the sky is so blue. Isn’t it just gorgeous?”

Liz grunts and takes heavy steps toward where he’s finally stopped. “It’s great,” she mutters and she’s horribly out of breath. She really doesn’t want to be here, but he’d been so excited to do this, to get out and off the grid for a little bit. And honestly, the way his legs look in the cargo shorts he’s wearing are really Doing It For Her. 

“You don’t sound excited,” he says, finally turned to her. Son of a bitch isn’t even breaking a sweat. 

“I just want to get to the campground,” she responds, shifting her pack on her back. She’s going to be just ridiculously sore in the morning. 

“It’s just over the next ridge!” Red exclaims, turning and moving quickly up the hill, leaving Lizzy behind.

It doesn’t take them long to set up their campsite, putting the tent together with only minimal gripes from Liz. By the time it’s set up though, it’s dark and the temperature is dropping. Liz pulls out her jacket and a beanie, tugging them both on while Red lights a fire. She watches him as he does it, admiring him as he piles wood up and lights a match. 

Later that night, as they’re sitting next to the fire, Red reaches over and pulls out a bag of s’mores ingredients. Liz is freezing, her back hurts, she’s been bitten by twelve hundred mosquitoes, she’s not looking forward to a whole night of this, and yet.

Red is so happy. He’s been chatting non stop since they parked at the Ranger’s Station, pointing things out to her. And now he’s brought her s’mores because he knows that chocolate makes her happy. She’s so uncomfortable and she’s fully convinced she’ll never go camping again. And yet…she’s happy.


	5. lizzington + kiss in the rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> one shots written from tumblr prompts. lizzington and keenler so far. all chapters will be labelled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lizzington + kiss in the rain
> 
> little bit of violence in this one

The bullets whiz past her head, slamming loud and heavy in the brick of the building next to her. She keeps her head down and blinks the rain out of her eyes as she races down the alley. She hadn’t been expecting a gunfight and her lack of a badge meant a lack of a service weapon. Which meant she’s now unarmed against an unknown assailant who apparently wants her dead.

She’s been in situations like this before, but this time feels worse. She’s in an unfamiliar part of the city, she’s being chased and shot at, she can’t see through the pouring rain; she feels like she’s going to die.

Finally, Liz can see the end of the alley, streetlights shimmering in the rain a beacon for her racing feet. Another shot bounces off the brick in front of her, making her stagger and trip. Her hands take the brunt of her fall and she can hear the footsteps of the shooter gaining on her.

Liz looks up, tries to determine if she can make it to the end of the alley, if she can make it to safety, even as the footsteps get louder. She tries to remember the number of shots that have gone off, tries to think how many he may have left, but all she can think about is how she’s seconds away from death.

And then the light at the end of the alley is shadowed. The silhouette is covered by the rain, but she knows that form, has studied it, has spent many nights with it. And now it’s standing here, arm raised and then there is a flash of light.

Logically, she knows that the bang she hears comes from the man in front of her and not the one behind. But her instincts cause her to flinch violently and duck her head, stringy wet hair falling in her face.

The only thing she can hear now is the falling rain and the rush of blood in her ears. Her whole body is trembling from both the cold and the adrenaline and it takes her several deep breaths to finally look up.

When she does, Red is kneeling in front of her, fear and concern written all over his face. There’s no sign of his gun and his eyes are shining, though she’s not sure if it’s because of her or the rain.

“Are you alright?” he asks, voice barely loud enough to be heard over the rain. “Are you injured?” His hands find their way to her shoulders, helping her sit up and she tries to ignore the sting in her hands but she can’t hide the wince.

“I’m alright,” she replies, but her voice is weak and shaky, catching on itself halfway through. She wants to rest her hands in his shoulders, let him guide her in for a hug, but her hands hurt and her heart is still beating wildly in her chest.

Liz looks up at him, blue eyes catching blue, and instead of seeing fear again, she just sees relief. “He was so close,” she says and she knows she doesn’t have to explain. Red knows exactly what she means and finally, to her relief, he pulls her in for a tight hug.

She wraps her arms around his shoulders, careful of her hands, and clings tightly to him, even as his own arms wrap around her waist, clutching against her soaked clothes. She can feels Red’s desperation and returns it in kind, very aware of how close they had come to losing each other.

Finally though, he releases her, pulling back but they’re both still kneeling on the ground. “You’re sure you’re alright?” he asks again, moving his hands to frame her face. Red pushes her wet hair from her face, trying to tuck it behind her ears to no avail. She needs a hot shower and a deep conditioning after this.

His gaze travels all over her face, checking for injuries, and his hands are strong against her skin. She nods in answer to his question, not trusting her voice.

It’s still raining, cold and dripping down her back, gathering to shine in his eyelashes. There’s a dead man behind them and a recently used gun somewhere on Red’s person, but she’s alive and thankful.

He can’t take his eye off her and she finds herself doing the same. His hands are still on her face, thumbs brushing softly against her cheeks, and it’s easy enough for him to lean in.

His lips are warm where she is cold, but they are just as wet. The rainwater slips around where they are connected, but she can taste it, he rainwater and him. Liz will remember that taste forever.

When Red finally leans back, they are both breathing hard, but they are smiling. Liz can feel the shock setting in, her adrenaline dropping and her trembles getting worse. She wraps her arms back around him and allows him to stand her up.

It takes him no time at all to bundle her into his car, sliding in next her and wrapping his arms back around her. They’ll still have to deal with who sent the assassin and getting rid of the body, but for now, she’s safe. She’s still wet and cold and shaking, but here in his arms, she is safe.


	6. keenler + kiss to convince

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> one shots written from tumblr prompts. lizzington and keenler so far. all chapters will be labelled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I wish you would write a cheesy little fic where Ressler and Liz are on a mission and they have to lie and then convince the enemy that they're together so they have to kiss you know to save the country"
> 
> yeah this was fun

“The two of you…are…together?” the man asks, accent thick and heavy, gun pointed at the Liz and Ressler. 

“Yes,” Liz answers, the word long and drawn out and she slips her hand into Ressler’s. She can only see him out of the corner of her eye, but she doesn’t miss the way he tenses when she squeezes his hand.

“As in…couple?” the man asks again. It’s clear that their undercover work could use a little fine tuning. If they can’t convince this guy that they are a couple, the whole op is dead. 

So Liz leans into it a little more, sliding her hand from Ressler’s hand up his arm to wrap around his bicep. She rests her weight on him a little more, trusting him to bear her weight. “Yes, he’s my…boyfriend,” she says and maneuvers herself so that his arm rests over her shoulders and her own wraps around his waist. 

The man across of them squints at them, still not convinced, and between that and the gun still pointed at them, Liz is starting to get nervous. “Prove it,” the man demands. 

Somehow, Ressler tenses even more. But Liz has this. She’s in the groove now and there is no way that she is going to let this guy get the best of them. She turns her body towards Ressler, tries not to think about how this is going to change their partnership, and moves her hand from where it was resting on his back up toward his face. 

She tries to convey to him what she’s about to do and there’s a brief flicker in his eyes that tells her he understands. If there’s one thing they get right, it’s that unspoken communication. She casts a quick glance at their suspect and shoots a smug grin at him. 

And then she pulls Ressler’s face down towards her own, lifting just slightly up on her toes to meet him halfway, and presses her lips to his. She starts off soft and intends to keep it that way, but she feels his hands grip at her waist, thumbs resting on her hip bones. He pauses for a moment and Liz is worried that he’s going to blow it and then he’s pressing harder, lips parting slightly so that his tongue touches her lips. She allows him entry and he steals her breath away with how much he gets into it. 

His lips are warm against hers, pressing hard, trying to get even closer, and his hands are clenching on her waist hard enough that she knows she’ll have ten small bruises on her skin. She slides her hands from his face to the back of his head and holds on for dear life. Her whole body feels hot and light, so she has the bright idea to dig her hand into his hair, just so she has something to hold on to. It makes him growl against her mouth when her hand clenches and there’s a deep swoop in the pit of her belly that makes her knees weak. 

Liz vaguely hears a noise near them, so she reluctantly starts to pull away. She doesn’t get very far, has only a moment to take a deep breath before Ressler is back, lips slightly wet now, but still just as warm and pressing hard against her. He’s clutching at her, pressing her as close as he can until there’s barely a space between their bodies and she can feel exactly what this kiss is doing to him. 

Finally, though, they break apart and Ressler rests his forehead against hers. They’re both breathing hard, breath mixing between them and Liz’s eyes are still closed from where they fell shut. Her hands are still at the back of his head and she can’t resist the urge to scrape her nails across his scalp. His breathing stutters as she does it and she can see the goosebumps rise on his neck and he goes limp in her arms. 

Their whole relationship has changed now and Liz hopes it’s for the better. She’s never felt this way during a kiss and she can’t wait to see what other feelings being with Ressler brings to the surface. She smiles up at him and huffs out a small laugh at the dazed look on his face. He returns her grin and it’s honestly one of the most beautiful things she’s ever seen. She would love to see every variation of his smile if she could. 

The voice next to them makes them both jump, but not from each other. “Okay, okay,” the gunman says with a laugh. 

Right, the op. Liz reluctantly steps away from Ressler and turns to their suspect. “You believe us now?” she asks.

“Yes, yes, I believe,” the man says, lowering his weapon. Apparently that little show was all that he needed because he allows them through the door without any more questions. Liz breathes a sigh of relief and turns back to Ressler, communicating silently again that they can continue. 

Ressler moves forward and this time it’s him that takes the lead, grabbing her hand and leading her through the door. When he grabs her hand, it feels different. It’s not him wrapping his hand around hers. Instead, he twines their fingers together, palm to palm, and moves forward. Liz has never felt something so right and can’t help but smile as he passes in front of her. 

Yeah, their whole relationship is different now. And Liz can’t wait.


	7. keenler + shut up kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> one shots written from tumblr prompts. lizzington and keenler so far. all chapters will be labelled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> keenler + shut up kiss

Liz is rambling. She’s been rambling for about five minutes now, talking and talking, occasionally waving her hand around to get her point across. Ressler is absolutely listening to her, but he’s also staring. Because he can’t help but think that she looks absolutely stunning. 

Her face is starting to flush, her cheeks turning rosy, and her eyes are shining as she continues with her speech. He watches her lips as she talks, the way they wrap around the words she’s trying to get out. He finds her enthralling. 

He makes sure to mask his feelings as he watches her, listens intently to her as she continues. He nods in the right places and tries to be a good boyfriend. But he absolutely cannot stop watching her and he, frankly, disagrees with what she’s saying. 

“I just think that maybe right now is not the best time to be starting a new relationship. I mean, we’re partners and my divorce just got finalized and there’s still The Blacklist to get through,” she’s saying and he nods even though he knows she’s looking for an argument. “And, honestly, with the way my last relationship went, really, it’s probably just not good for me to try right now,” she continues. 

“Oh, but I really like you,” she keeps going. “I haven’t been this happy in so long and we already work so well together.” He’s going to let her continue for a little bit if this is the train of thought she wants to ride. “But it’s probably a bad idea for partners to be in a relationship,” she trails off. Okay, not the train he wanted her to take. 

Liz pauses only for a moment and looks Ressler in the eye before continuing. “This is probably a bad idea -” 

Ressler can’t take it. He agrees that she probably needs some time to herself, that she needs to figure herself out first. And he’s willing to wait for her for as long as she needs. But he also needs to let her know how he feels in this relationship. How she’s the first thing that’s made him happy since Audrey. That’s she’s the reason he gets out of bed in the morning. That she’s why he goes to work and catches bad guys all day. He’s not going to say she’s his whole world, but she’s pretty damn close. 

And she just won’t stop talking. So he leans forward quickly, fast enough that she can’t get away, but slow enough that she sees him coming. She cuts herself off just before his lips touch hers. 

His lips are dry and just a little bit chapped, but he tastes like mint and she closes her eyes as he deepens the kiss. Ressler watches them close, the primal part of him glad that he’s reduced her to this state of being, but selfishly aware that he can no longer see what she’s thinking. 

He pulls her closer, wrapping an arm around her waist and digging his other hand into her hair. It’s soft between his fingers and he pictures thousands of other instances where he can do exactly the same thing. His heart is beating steadily in his ears, but thankfully not loud enough to block out the quiet whimper she makes as she clutches at his shoulders, trying to pull him even closer. 

Finally, though, they need to breathe. He doesn’t want to be the one to do it, but he has to pull away. He intends for it to be only a moment before diving back in, but he stops to look at her. The flush on her cheeks is deeper than before and her lips are slightly bruised. Her eyes are slowing opening, dazed and shining under half lids. Her breathing is ragged against his lips, warm and moist and he can’t wait to kiss her again. 

Ressler’s reason for kissing her was to get her to stop talking, to stop thinking so hard about what they have because he knows it will just drive her crazy. So instead of kissing her again, he pulls back a little more. She clenches her hand on his suit to keep him from moving away and he cocks a half grin at her. 

“Liz,” he starts, and there’s a hint of smugness to him now. “Shut up.”


	8. keenler + high school au

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> one shots written from tumblr prompts. lizzington and keenler so far. all chapters will be labelled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "i wish you would write a fic about liz/ressler where they're both in high school and ressler is the popular guy and liz is the new transfer student and somehow they meet and sparks fly :D"
> 
> yeah alright

Elizabeth Keen is not happy. She hasn’t been happy since her father moved her here during her Senior Year. She didn’t want to move to move, she doesn’t want to be in this school with all of these new people, she wants to be back home with all her old friends. She knows that she looks surly and if people want to label her a bitch as she walks down the hallway to the office, then so be it. They don’t know her and they never will. 

The secretary in the front office is overly nice and Liz doesn’t trust her at all. But she grabs her schedule and listens to directions to her first class. It’s English 4, and while English is one of her favorite classes, it’s too early and too new to be excited about Shakespeare and Bronte. 

Liz finds the classroom easily enough and pauses outside the door. The bell’s already rung and she hates that she’ll be walking in and drawing attention to herself. Finally, she works up enough nerve to finally open the door and winces when the teacher at the front of the classroom pauses in her speech. 

She gives the teacher the hall pass the secretary had given her and suffers through a short introduction, correcting the teacher only once when she introduces her as Elizabeth. The teacher finally allows her to sit, pointing her to a seat towards the back next to a boy with soft, blond hair. He looks like every jock she’s known in school, letterman jacket hanging loosely off his shoulders. She glances briefly and notes a football, basketball, and baseball patch on the arms. She wouldn’t be surprised if he also played other sports in his off seasons as well. He doesn’t look up when she makes her way to her seat, just continues the conversation he was having with the boy in front of him. 

Liz drops heavily in the desk, letting her bag fall next to her. She slumps in her seat and casts side glances at the people around her. There’s a very pretty girl in front of her, dark skin and curly dark hair hanging past her shoulders. Liz can see her passing and quick note to the slight boy next to her, also dark haired, the large rimmed glasses on his face and too big button down shirt making him seem smaller than he is. Liz sneaks a look to the side, watching the blond boy again. He’s watching her, trying not to make it obvious, but when Liz catches him, he turns away quickly. The tips of his ears start turning pink, she can’t ignore the way it makes her grin. 

She sits up in her seat as the teacher starts talking again, leading them in to their Shakespeare unit. They’re apparently starting King Lear which means at some point she’s going to have to pull out her copy. But right now she has nothing, so she flips to a blank page in her notebook and looks around again. Everyone has their heads down, reading along as the teacher reads a passage from the book. She’s read King Lear before, but it would be nice to be able to follow along. 

She sees a slight movement to the side of her and turns slowly to see the blond boy leaning toward her, head still down but with his book closer to her than it was before. He’s leaning over in to the aisle, clearly trying to share his copy of the book and all Liz can do is stare at the side of his head. His ears are turning red again. 

Finally, she leans to meet him halfway and tries to find where they are in the book. He points to a passage, helping her out, and all she can think about is how strong his hands look. He also smells really good and Liz can already tell this is going to be a problem. 

She settles in to reading along after nodding a thanks to the boy next to her and tries to ignore the flutter of feelings thrumming through her body. And then he leans even closer and whispers under his breath. “I’m Don,” he says, soft enough that the teacher won’t hear. 

Liz doesn’t look at him, but swallows hard and breathes deeply before turning her head slightly. “Liz,” she responds. The smile Don gives her is soft and Liz can’t help but return it. It makes him look even more handsome and Liz let’s her gaze fall over his face. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Liz,” he says around his smile and Liz thinks maybe the rest of this school year won’t be so bad.


End file.
